Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Meatless jerky, or vegan jerky, or soy jerky, or tofu jerky, or whatever you want to call it, is my way of knowing that vegans are secretly wishing they could eat animal flesh.

Some of the stuff out there is just god-awful, even as just a soy-based snack, it doesn't even taste good on its own, let alone as a beef substitute. I found that disappointing. As someone with some Japanese ancestry, I've eaten a lot of soybean products, including miso soup, soy crackers, and tofu itself, and all of which tastes really good in my opinion. So I couldn't figure out why "soy jerky" has to taste to awful.

My guess it's because these companies are trying to make something that tastes like meat. What a great hypocrisy! Here we have vegans, who swear that they have no desire to eat meat, and yet companies are producing a vegan-food that tastes and resembles meat as closely as possible.

Primal Strips is a brand owned by Primal Spirit, Inc., based out of Moundsville, WV. Their mission statement says their goal is to make a meatless jerky product that appeals to both vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians. The company goes on to say that years ago they ran into an old Thai chef who introduced them to a meat alternative recipe that they thought was the best ever. When their friends agreed, they decided they had a gold mine on their hands.

So, will this offering from Primal Strips fare any better than the other vegan-jerkies I've reviewed?

This stuff largely tastes similar to the other vegan-jerkies I've reviewed, though not quite as bad. I think I said in reviewing Tasty Eats Soy Jerky that it tasted like sour milk that had been soaking in a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. This has a similar taste, but I think it's got more of the salt and soy sauce coming through.

I think that Thai chef the company described probably sold the same recipe to the other companies.

It definitely has the same chemical smell that remains on your fingers, even after washing my hands with soap.

It doesn't taste anything like meat, in case you're wondering.

It doesn't taste anything like teriyaki, either.

Consistency

This stuff is probably the most meat-like of all the vegan-jerkies I've seen. It tears apart like jerky, it has fibers that fray like jerky, and it feels just like real meat in my mouth. If you put this into my mouth, and I was blindfolded, I'd think this was real meat, but more like cold left-over pot roast where the sauce had spoiled.

It tears apart very easily, and chews easily.

It's also very moist. It's so moist that I'd wouldn't call this jerky. It's more like deli-meat.

Product Value

I paid $5.15 for this 4oz bag at a Sprouts store in Temecula, CA. That works out to $1.29 per ounce, putting this into the average price range.

Assuming that you're a vegan, or a vegan-wannabe, who is wanting to satisfy your inner urge to eat animal flesh, I'd suppose this is a good value. You're getting something that really does resemble meat, albeit, very wet and soaked piece of meat.

But if you love the teriyaki flavor, you'll be sadly disappointed.

If you love great tasting soy products, you'll also be disappointed.

Rating

I'm rating this as dog treats.

I really wanted to find a vegan-jerky that actually tastes decent. So far I haven't found one. It doesn't have to taste like meat, it just has to taste good. I'm impressed that they made this feel like real meat, but they failed at making it taste good.

I ate about 1/3rd of a strip, probably more than the other vegan brands I've tried. I guess the dogs are getting some goodies tonight.

I appreciate that you're wiling to try vegan jerkies-which can be fairly unappealing, I admit. But please don't assume that all vegans reject meat because they find it disgusting-I like the taste of meat, and occasionally miss it. Some of us don't eat meat for ethical or other reasons, not because it doesn't taste good!

I appreciate your review, and would probably agree with it. That said, you really are way off the mark in your assessment of vegans. It is, as anonymous pointed out, "not because it doesn't taste good" that we don't eat meat. For most of us, it's because we don't want to contribute to animal suffering.

I can assume that human baby flesh tastes pretty good barbecued. Delectable, even. But most wouldn't eat it. Right? We each draw our line somewhere.

There is one common thread visible between all vegans - they always feel the need to correct absolutely anyone that even so much as ponders making a mistake describing the group as a whole. They tend to act like they're being actively persecuted. FML.

It's not soy jerky, it's made from Seitan which is different from soy.That said, I think the teriyaki is pretty average. Love the Mesquite Lime though.

I'm a vegan and I like this better than the beef jerky I used to eat (never was a beef jerky fan though)/still like the smell of bacon and other meat, would eat it if it wasn't for the animal suffering

"There is one common thread visible between all vegans - they always feel the need to correct absolutely anyone that even so much as ponders making a mistake describing the group as a whole. They tend to act like they're being actively persecuted. FML."

Steve you need to understand that us vegans we don't eat meat because of the cruelty factor! I'm sure you would taste pretty good BBQ or jerked. There really isn't a difference between our flesh and animals but I choose to not eat animals bc some of us decide to respect all forms of life.

Veganism really isn't that hard to understand.. it's making some dietary sacrifices for the good of living creatures, not about lying to yourself and saying that they don't taste good. They do.. duh. If there was a magical way to eat pork chops by harmlessly pulling it off a live pig and watching it grow right back, I'd probably still be eating pork chops. Til then, the vegan market for this type of thing should live on.

This is my favorite type of jerky. It tastes good, the texture is good and my only complaint is like all processed foods, it is expensive. I hope to make my own. I used to eat moose jerky until I discovered that just because I ate organic, unprocessed meat, it still raised my cholesterol to dangerous levels, gave me arthritic pains, added lots of weight, and increased my cancer risk SIGNIFICANTLY.

I find it so funny that people like the author want to make digs at vegans. I became vegan to lower my risk of cancer and heart disease. Now that I don't hunt or fish anymore I also have no desire to kill anything - it's not fun when you kill your own as opposed to doing what most non vegans do-buy it in the store and NEVER consider where it came from, how it lived or how it was treated. I challenge any non vegan to kill your own, milk your own, fish for your own, etc., etc. and I guarantee there would be a huge decline in eating of meat. Meat eaters for the most part don't have a clue. Read the China Study. Open your mind and recreate your health.

Last time I hunted I killed a caribou and it didn't die right away. Was lying on the tundra spurting blood and needing to be finished off. Easy to buy processed crap animal products from store - try doing it the real way. Vegetarian is the way to go!

The first line makes you seem like an asshole. We don't "SECRETLY DESIRE" to eat animal flesh. We like the flavor. We are just STRONG enough to ignore the wish to eat it, due to our beliefs.

There is no top-secret-meaty-flavor-hiding-radar built into us the moment we stop eating meat.

I for one, used to LOVE meat. Still love the taste and texture, but I find cruelty free ways to enjoy it.

How about you stop ridiculing and review honestly next time? Plenty of people have said that they LOVE this and other vegetarian products that you drag through the mud. Either your taste buds are messed up, or you obviously harbor some secret hate for cruelty-free products, and therefore refuse to do a REAL review.

"Listen Day Lilly" This is a beef jerky site GET IT BEEF JERKY site, Not a Toe-poo site which it looks like. Steve reviews (Beef Jerky)if your looking for an honest review of this S#&@ start a review site your self or get another vegetable or flower person to start it!! Real Men Eat Beef.

I've been a vegan for many years. I recently tried the Primal Strips (Teriyaki, Hot & Spicy, and Thai Peanuts). I thought they tasted okay. I liked them much better than the cactus jerky and better than some of the soy jerky I've tried.

More Jerky Sites

About Best Beef Jerky

I'm Steve Johnson, and I've been in the Internet marketing and publishing business since 1997. I've been a life-long fan of beef jerky and decided to merge my profession with my snack food of choice, and gave birth to Best Beef Jerky.

I review beef jerky, turkey jerky, bison jerky, pretty much any meat jerky, even vegan jerky. I review meat sticks, biltong, cecina, carne seca, it's all fair game as long as it's meat, it's dried, and it's a snack.